Flexible container



P 7, 19-65 I. D. BOYNTON ETAL 3,204,855

FLEXIBLE CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 29, 1963 S 3 w w m, o Da b 62901 6 A. W 0 d Wm ATTORNEY P 1965 l. D. BOYNTON ETAL 3,204,855

FLEXIBLE CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1965 nllll'" m m MATTORNEY Sept. 7, 19 65 1. D. BOYNTON ETAL 3,

FLEXIBLE CONTAINER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 29, 1965 INVENTORS Y w2m o n 3 B Q as r6 United States Patent 3,204,855 FLEXIBLE CONTAINER IraD. Boynton, Lexington, and George A. Wood, South Lincoln, Mass,assignors, by mesne assignments, to International Latex Corporation,Dover, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 29, 1963, Ser. No.276,259 7 Claims. (Cl. 22953) This invention provides an improvedflexible disposable bottle for infant nursing devices. Morespecifically, the invention provides a disposable collapsible bag orcontainer which serves as a nursing bottle and is constructed tosimplify assembly of the bag onto a supporting holder for attachment ofa nursing nipple to complete the nursing unit, and to maintain the innersurface of the bag in sterile condition prior to use.

Nursing devices with disposable collapsible bags for containing milk orother liquids to be fed to an infant have become quite popular. Thedisposable bags are provided in convenient pre-sterilized condition, andthen are thrown away after a single use. This eliminates thesterilization necessary in the case of the more conventional plastic orglass nursing bottles which must be reused. Such disposable bags aregenerally thin-walled plastic tubes which collapse as their liquidcontents are withdrawn. They are not self-supporting and must be mountedover a supporting holder to which is attached a nursing nipple to. closethe open mouth of the bag. Constructions typical of such nursing unitassemblies are those shown in US. Patents Nos. 2,604,222, 2,624,485 and3,075,666. As shown in these patents, the bag is placed within thesupporting ring or cylindrical bottle holder and the open end of the bagis drawn over the mouth of the holder and folded downwardly over theouter surface of the holder. The bottle is then filled and a nursingnipple is suitably attached to the holder to close the open mouth of thebag.

To mount the disposable bottle on the supporting ring or bottle holderwhile maintaining sterile conditions, mechanical devices have beenproposed, such as the bag applicator shown in US. 2,900,779. Use ofmechanical means for assembly of the bag to the holder complicates theuse of the nursing device and requires sterilization of another item. Inaddition the chances of desterilization or contamination are increasedin handling the mechanical applicator. On th other hand, if manualoperation is attempted the bag cannot be opened and grasped at its openmonth without the fingers contaminating the interior of the bag whendrawing it over the mouth of the bottle holder.

It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide adisposable bag of such construction that it may be assembled to thebottle holder without using mechanical means and at the same time may bemaintained sterile. The invention advances the art by eliminating themechanical expander and providing a disposable bottle construction whichfacilitates manual assembly of the bag on the holder and yet assuresthat the interior surfaces of the bag will remain in sterile conditionprior to use and during the assembly operation.

The collapsible disposable bag of the invention is provided in the shapeof a flattened tube when not in use and is expandable to tubular shapewhen filled. It has an openable mouth at one end and integral tab-likeextensions are provided around a part of the periphery of the bag mouthfor manually mounting the bag over the holder rim. The tabs arepreferably peripherally opposing and of sufiicient width to be suitablefor grasping with the fingertips in order to draw the bag mouth over thelip of the holder without touching the sterile interior surfaces of thebag.

The invention is described in greater detail with reference to theaccompanying drawingswhich illustrate complete specific embodiments ofthe invention and are not to be regarded as a limitation thereon inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view in elevation of a disposable bag for anursing unit made. in accordance with the invention; v

FIGURE 2 is a schematic .view of themanual assembly of thedisposable bagusing the tab extensions to draw the mouth of the bag over the holderrim;

FIGURE 3 is a View in cross-section with parts broken away of a nursingdevice showing the disposable bag of the invention mounted within theholder, filled with liquid and with the nursing nipple assembledthereon;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the disposable bag of theinvention made in continuous strip form with the bags detachable onefrom the other;

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view of .analternative form for making thedisposable bags of the invention in continuous strip form detachable onefrom the other;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view showing a modified construction of the bagof. the invention in which the tab extensions are formed by tearing ofiperforated corner sections;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view of the upper end of a disposable bagshowing a modified perforated construc tion for forming the tabextensions at the mouth of the disposable bag at the time of use;

FIGURE 8 is still another modification of a disposable bag made forindividual packing and constructed to remain sterile until use; and

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIGURE 8.

Referring now to FIGURE 1 there is shown a typical flexible collapsiblebag .10 of suitable thin gauge plastic material having a closed bottomend 11 formed by an appropriate heat seal 12. The bag is of tubularshape and when not in use is normally in flattened condition andsuitable for packaging-in roll form when produced as a continuous strip.An open end 13 of the bag 10 is provided with upstanding tab extensions14 on opposing pee ripheral portions of the bag. Alternatively, the bagmay be described as having an open mouth provided with cutaway corners15 which in turn form upstanding'tabs 14 at the mouth of the bag.Perforations 16 may be provided at the base of the tabs 14 to facilitateremoval of the tabs after they have served their purpose. This line ofperforations also may function as a reference line for placing thedisposable bags on the holder in substantially the same position eachtime. In this way uniform readings of the liquid volume are obtainedwhere'the volume markings of necessity are on the rigid holder.

It is preferred that the tabs be sufiiciently wide so that when they aregrasped between the fingers and a pull is o exerted thereon, the bagmouth will open to facilitate drawing it over the holder rim. Ingeneral, it is preferred to have the tabs extend over more than half theperiphery of the bag mouth to facilitate opening. Where two tabs areprovided the cutout portions 15 preferably are less than about one halfof the periphery of the bag mouth. However, the tabs may be madenarrower where three or four are distributed around the periphery andsimultaneous pull on all tabs opens the bag mouth for the assemblyoperation.

The ease with which the tabbed bag is mounted on the holder isillustrated in FIGURE 2. The bag 10 is inserted into the interior of theholder 1 through the open mouth 2. Tab 14a on one side of the disposablebag 10 is grasped between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand andtab 14b is grasped between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand.Then a pull is exerted on both tabs to open the mouth of the bag anddraw it over the rim of the bottle holder mouth 2, the cutout portions15 between the tabs facilitating this operation. The bag is drawndownwardly over the outer peripheral surface of the bottle holder to apoint such that only the sterile inner surface of the bag forms thecontact area 17 (below the tab tear off line 16) over which a sterilenipple 3 is placed. The nipple is most easily placed on the bottleholder by inverting the nipple skirt 5 (FIGURE 3) and then pivoting itdownwardly to clamp the bag between the outer periphery of the holderand the inner periphery of the nipple skirt.

FIGURE 3 shows the complete nursing unit assembly filled and ready foruse. The bag 10 is preferably made of such diameter that when filledwith liquid it engages the sides of theholder 1 in a relatively smoothor unw-rinkled expanded condition. The tab tear off line 16 may belocated at the base 6 of nipple skirt 5. However, as shown in FIGURE 3,it may be desirable to draw the bag farther down on the outer peripheryof the holder and turn the lower portion of the bag mouth upwardly aboutthe outer peripheral surface of the nipple ski-rt 5. In this manner, thebag assists in locking the nipple in place to prevent accidental removalof the nipple and spilling of the contents.

The improved bag of the invention is adaptable for manufacture incontinuous strip form so that it may be packaged in roll form forconvenience in dispensing. In addition, the roll form is advantageousfor sterilization of the bags within the package. The roll form alsomaintains sterility after opening of the package as each bag may beseparately detached from the roll when required for use without removingthe roll from the box or package.

. In FIGURE 4 is shown one embodiment of the disposable bags of theinvention made in continuous strip form. The bags 10'are made as acontinuous extruded plastic tube which is transversely heat sealed atspaced intervals 12 equal to desired bag length and the strip isperforated across its widthat 19 adjacent each heat seal to facilitatedetaching individual bags from the strip. As shown in FIGURE 4 cutouts15 are formed in the strip to produce the tab extensions 14 at the mouthof each bag with the perforations 16 being disposed across the bottom ofthe tab extensions 14 so that the tabs may be readily detached from thebag after mounting the bag on the holder. A partial heat seal 18 may beprovided across the bags 10 below the cutout portions 15 to maintainsterility. A pull on the sides of the bag opens this seal when the bagis to be used.

In FIGURE 5 is shown an alternative manner of producing the disposablebags of the invention in continuous strip form without extruding aclosed tube as in the emboditnent shown in FIGURE 4. A fiat strip 20 ofplastic, such as polyethylene, polypropylene or various alloys ormixtures of'the two, is folded upon itself to form one closed edge 21and an open edge 22. The sheet is then passed to suitable heat sealing,cutting and perforating stations whereheat seals 23 are formedtransversely be- 7 tween the walls 24 and 25 of the strip 20 at spacedintervals based on the selected bag width. Perforation lines 26 areformed in each of the transverse heat sealed zones 23 and at the openedge 22 cutouts 30 are formed in alignment with the lines ofperforations 26 in transverse heat sealed zones 23. The cutouts 30 alongthe open edge of the folded strip 20 in turn form the desired tabextensions 31 on opposing sides of the bag in its flattened condition.Because the bags are formed with an unsealed edge 22 providing openmonths for the bags, it is preferred to provide partial heat seals 32below the open bag mouth at the base of the tab extensions 31 tomaintain the interior of the bag in sterile condition until the bag isready for use. At such time an individual bag is detached from the stripor roll along a perforated line 26 and the bag mouth is then pulled openrupturing the partial heat seal 32 after which the bag may be mounted onthe holder as shown in FIGURE 2.

In FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are shown preferred constructions of thedisposable bag in which the tabs are actually formed at the time theindividual bag is required for use by tearing off sections 15 which aremade detachably integral with the mouth portion 13 of the bag 10. InFIGURE 6 the bag mouth is provided with the usual line of transverseperforations 19 for separating the individual bag from the strip orroll. However, instead of cutouts 15 being formed in the production ormanufacture of the bags, the corners of the bag mouth (when lying inflattened condition) are simply provided with a line of weakening orperforations which makes the corner portions 15 easily removablefrom thebag 10 when it is required for use. With the corner portions removed tabextensions '14 are formed for manually mounting the bag on the holder.In FIG. 7 the bag has lines of weakening peripherally disuniting the tabextension 14. The lines of weakening may be characterized by a series ofrelatively short perforations 35 which extend vertically downwardly fromthe periphery of the bag mouth to define the common sides of the tabs 14and cutout sections 15. However, the perforation pattern of FIGURE 7 hasa virtually completely out bottom section 36' extending arcuately fromthe vertical line of perforations 35 completely out to the bag edge.Only one small connecting strip 37 serves to prevent this lower edge ofcutout 15 from flapping or being displaced. This almost severed bottomedge allows easy separation when the corners 15 are pulled off. Thisconstruction also permits use of the bag without prior removal of thecorner sections 15. When the mouth of the bag is opened and pulled apartto draw it over the lip of a holder, the perforations 35 tear down onone or the other side of each corner section 15. The elongated cuts 36allow separation of the corner 15 without building up such stress thattears initiate in the bag below the tear-ofi? line where it changesdirection. The very small connecting members 37 easily break when thearcuate edge is stressed in pulling the bag mouth over the rim ofthe'holder. The corner sections 15 are thus left attached to one or theother of tabs 14 and are removed when the tab is pulled off after theassembly of the bag on the holder. This combines the removal of cornersections 15 and tabs 14 into a single tear-off operation and eliminatesproduction of small loose pieces of plastic around the formulapreparation site.

FIGURES 8 and 9 illustrate a bag construction suitable for individualpackaging. The bag 10 with the usual bottom seal 12 is also providedwith a protective top 40 having a seal 41. When it is desired to use thebag the top 40 is removed by tearing along perforation lines 42 to forman open mouth bag having tab exten sions 14. v r

In addition, reinforcing or stiffening strips 43 may be provided nearthe upper edges of tabs 14 to facilitate opening the bag mouth anddrawing it over the rim of the holder. This is particularly advantageouswhen the bag mouth must be stretched in the assembly operation.

The disposable bag of the invention is eminently suitable for use withnursing units such as shown in US. Patent 3,075,666 in which thediameter of the plastic bag is slightly smaller than the outsidediameter of the bottle holder so that the bag must be slightly stretchedwhen drawn over the mouth of the holder. This permits the bag to contactthe lip of the holder tightly and eliminates wrinkles which might causeleaking of the contents.

The disposable bottle of the invention is also suitable for applicationto ordinary conventional nursing bottles as a disposable liner and forother nursing units, such as shown in U.S. Patent 2,624,485, where itmay be desirable to have the diameter of the disposable bottle largerthan the outer diameter of the mouth of the holder. In such cases wherethe nipple is attached to the bottle or bottle holder by screw caps, aslight amount of wrinkling or folding of the bag over the rim of theholder will not cause leaking.

The material for the bottle, as mentioned above, may be any suitablerelatively flexible plastic or elastomeric substance, such asregenerated cellulose, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene,polypropylene, alloys of polyethylene and polypropylene in variousblends, natural or synthetic rubber or other rubbery or plasticmaterials which provide suitable strength in thin walled bag form.

Although it is a particular advantage of the invention to haveperforations at the base of the tab extensions on the disposable bottlefor removal of the tabs after they have served their purpose in mountingthe bottle on the holder, it is not essential that such perforations beprovided. The tabs may be left attached to the body portions of thedisposable bottle and simply encircle the upper portion of the holderbelow the nipple or may be turned upwardly to shield the nipple and keepit sterile when the unit is stored for use.

Also, although it is preferred to provide cutout portions of substantialwidth and with arcuate bottom portions, the tabs may tubular bag,preferably diametrically opposed. This is particularly satisfactorywhere the tension exerted at the bottom of the slits will not tear theplastic bag, for example, where the bag diameter is greater than theholder diameter.

Various modifications other than those mentioned above will be obviousto those skilled in the art and are to be considered included within thescope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An internally sterile flexible collapsible plastic container adaptedto be placed in a relatively stiff generally cylindrical open mouthholder with the top of the container pulled out and down over the top ofthe generally cylindrical holder, said container being made of twothicknesses of sheet plastic continuously joined together around theedges thereof and being devoid of any openings from the exterior intoits sterile interior, a transverse seal extending fully across andclosing the top region of said container, a transverse line of localizedweakening extending across the top end of said container for localizedparting, and a second line of localized weakening extendinglongitudinally of the container from the transverse line of weakeningdown a substantial distance therefrom, the locus of said containerimmediately below the bottom of said second line of weakeningconstituting in use the mouth of the container, whereby the pullingapart of said lines of weakening will form diametrically opposed tabextensions of suflicient length to be well grasped by the fingers tofacilitate pulling the mouth of I the container outwardly and downwardlyover the top edge of the generally cylindrical holder without the beformed by mere slits in the 6 fingers ever having touched the sterileinside of the container from its mouth down.

' 2. A plastic container according to claim 1 in which the second lineof weakening which extends longitudinally of the container downwardlyfrom the transverse line of weakening terminates in an arcuate line ofweakening which extends laterally from said downwardly extending line ofweakening.

3. A- plastic container according to claim 1, in which said containerhas a small degree of elasticity and when expanded to tubular form has.a rest diameter less than the outside diameter of said generallycylindrical open mouth holder, whereby the container is adapted to bemanually mounted in said holder by applying substantially equaldiverging forces to said tab extensions to open and stretch the mouth ofsaid container into a generally circular configuration to be foldedoutwardly and downwardly over the top of said holder.

4. A continuous series of internally sterile separable flexible plasticcontainers adapted for continuous manufacture by forming a thin flexibleplastic tube and flattening same and sealing and weakening predeterminedareas of same; said flattened tube having a series of longitudinallyspaced transverse seals extending fully across the width thereofdefining the individual containers, transverse lines of localizedweakening defining lines of detachment between adjacent containers, andsecond lines of localized weakening extending longitudinally of saidflattened tube from said transverse lines of weakening down asubstantial distance therefrom, the locus of each container immediatelybelow the bottom of said second lines of weakening constituting in usethe mouth of the container, the transverse lines of weakening beingadapted to be broken open manually to separate the individualcontainers, and the second lines of weakening being adapted to be brokenopen manually to form tab extensions on said containers which extend forapproximately and are of suflicient depth to be well grasped by thefingers, whereby the tab extensions may be grasped by the fingers tofacilitate pulling the mouth of the container outward-1y and downwardlyover the top edge of a generally cylindrical holder without the fingersever having touched the sterile inside of the container from its mouthdown.

5. Plastic containers according to claim 4 in which the second line ofweakening that extends longitudinally of said flattened tube from saidtransverse line of weakening terminates in an arcuate line of weakeningextending laterally from said longitudinally extending line ofweakening.

6. In a nursing unit which comprises a tubular open top holder having atits open top an outwardly extending annular rib and below that anannular groove of less diameter, an internally sterile flexiblecollapsible container having a sealed upper marginal portion, said uppermarginal portion when opened being adapted to be folded outwardly anddownwardly over the annular rib and groove on the holder, and a nipplehaving a peripheral skirt adapted to clamp the upper marginal portion ofsaid container over said annular rib and in said groove on the holder,the improvement which comprises providing said container with atransverse line of localized weakening extending fully across said uppermarginal portion of the container, and a second line of localizedweakening extending longitudinally from the transverse line of weakeningdown a substantial distance therefrom, the locus of said containerimmediately below said second line of localized weakening constitutingin use the mouth of said container, whereby the transverse line ofweakening may be manually parted to open the sealed upper marginalportion and said second line of weakening may be manually pulled apartto form tab extensions on the mouth of said container of suflicientlength to be well portion of said container outwardly and downwardlyover the annularrib and the annular groove into position to receive thenipple without the fingers ever having contasted the sterile interiorsurface of the container.

7. A nursing unit according to claim 6 in which the second line ofweakening which extends longitudinally from said transverse line ofweakening terminatesin an arcuate line of weakening extending laterallyfrom said longitudinally extending line of weakening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Gray 220-65 Poppe220-65 Piazze et al 206-59 Carkin 215-11 Fitz Gerald 215-11 I-Iofifstein215-11 FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

1. AN INTERNALLY STERILE FLEXIBLE COLLAPSIBLE PLASTIC CONTAINER ADAPTEDTO BE PLACED IN A RELATIVELY STIFF GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL OPEN MOUTHHOLDER WITH THE TOP OF THE CONTAINER PULLED OUT AND DOWN OVER THE TOP OFTHE GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL HOLDER, SAID CONTAINER BEING MADE OF TWOTHICKNESS OF SHEET PLASTIC CONTINUOUSLY JOINED TOGETHER AROUND THE EDGESTHEREOF AND BEING DEVOID OF ANY OPENINGS FROM THE EXTERIOR INTO ITSSTERILE INTERIOR, A TRANSVERSE SEAL EXTENDING FULLY ACROSS AND CLOSINGTHE TOP REGION OF SAID CONTAINER, A TRANSVERSE LINE OF SOCIALIZEDWEAKENING EXTENDING ACROSS THE TOP END OF SAID CONTAINER FOR LOCALIZINGPARTING, AND A SECOND LINE OF LOCALIZED WEAKENING EXTENDINGLONGITUDINALLY OF THE CONTAINER FROM THE TRANSVERSE LINE OF WEAKENINGDOWN A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE THEREFROM, THE LOCUS OF SAID CONTAINERIMMEDIATELY BELOW THE BOTTOM OF SAID SECOND LINE OF WEAKENINGCONSTITUTING IN USE THE MOUTH OF THE CONTAINER, WHEREBY THE PULLINGAPART OF SAID LINES OF WEAKENING WILL FORM DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TABEXTENSIONS OF SUFFICIENT LENGTH TO BE WELL GRASPED BY THE FINGERS TOFACILITATE PULLING THE MOUTH OF THE CONTAINER OUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLYOVER THE TOP EDGE OF THE GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL HOLDER WITHOUT THEFINGERS EVER HAVING TOUCHED THE STERILE INSIDE OF THE CONTAINER FROM ITSMOUTH DOWN.